Founder Stories

While serving as an officer in the IDF, Captain Ziv Shilon lost his left arm and severely injured his right in an IED explosion. Since then, Shilon has competed in the most challenging physical competitions on Earth, including the Berlin Marathon and Iron Man, while inspiring thousands as a volunteer, mentor and lecturer. Today, Shilon is Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Pollli, a high growth startup in the fintech space.

While working a concert backstage a sound engineer, Mordechai Braunstein accidentally turned up the amplifier too high and felt the sound wave vibrations shake his muscles and even his teeth. That experience inspired Braunstein to invent visual music machines that translate live music into a tactile musical experience, and launch CyMagic to show tens of thousands of deaf children around the world how music looks and feels. The father of two young children, Braunstein has big plans for CyMagic and the future of sound. Mordechai is also a pioneering activist raising awareness for the issue of violence against women.

In 2003, Joseph Gitler founded Leket Israel - The National Food Bank - as a one-man volunteer operation to respond to the paradox of growing hunger and poverty in Israel, on the one hand, and significant food waste on the other. Today, Joseph’s operation has grown to distribute over 40 million pounds of food to Israel’s socio-economic periphery through its partnerships with 200 nonprofit organizations, feeding more than 175,000 people every week.  With 105 employees, a fleet of delivery vehicles and tens of thousands of volunteers, Leket now operates the greatest logistical and human resource capacity of any single food provision agency in Israel.

Ashager Araro is the woman breaking down barriers in Israel. Born in Ethiopia, Araro came to Israel as an infant on Operation Solomon, a covert military mission that airlifted Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 1991. She grew up with seven siblings and rose to the rank of Lieutenant in the IDF Paratroops. Following her military service and studies, Araro pursued a career in diplomacy and social advocacy, visiting countries around the world to engage audiences as a proud black, Jewish, Israeli woman. Araro is also the founder of Bettea, an interactive, Ethiopian Israeli Heritage Center for visitors to explore and appreciate the story of Ethiopian Jews in Israel.

Shaul Olmert went from teaching computers at a high school in Jerusalem to running the most powerful publishing platform on Facebook. In 2013, Shaul co-founded Playbuzz, an online content publishing platform that grew from 0 to 80 million users in 10 months and reached more users than The Huffington Post, New York Times, Fox, NBC and the BBC. Olmert is also the son of former Jerusalem Mayor and Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert. He has dined with Presidents, and their families, and opens up to us about his drive to create and make a lasting impact.

Dina Kraft has been capturing stories from Israel for more than 20 years as a correspondent for Haaretz and The Christian Science Monitor. The veteran reporter is also the founder of “The Branch,” a monthly podcast where she meets pairs of Jews and Arabs working together in different realms throughout Israel. Formerly with The Associated Press, Dina has reported from hot spots in Africa, Pakistan, Jordan, Tunisia, Russia and Ukraine, and is a regular contributor to The New York Times.

Born in South Africa, Nicki Forman was a lawyer before turning her attention and her heart to yoga. She spent the next twenty years searching for the right yoga philosophy, schlepping her young family around the world from one ashram to another. It was on one fateful trek in India that Nicki had an out-of-body experience where she fell into her own teachings that led her to found Aruna Yoga and inspire people across Israel and the world.

Daniel Shinar has invested over $100 million into Israeli technology companies for Access Industries, the investment vehicle of the world’s 27th wealthiest person. Daniel is also the best-selling author of cyber espionage novel “Red Skies” based on his previous life as an IDF intelligence analyst.

Miriam Cabessa is one of Israel’s most iconic contemporary artists, who uses unconventional tools, including hey body, to create large-scale paintings. She talks about her obsession with painting, finding spirituality and her renewed passion for Israel.

Eytan Levit co-founded Mixtiles with a mission to become the standard way for people to mount photos on walls. Eytan has taken that astonishingly simple concept to grow a business generating tens of millions of dollars and employing talent all over the world. Eytan is known and loved throughout Israel for mentoring founders with lessons learned from his past failures and ultimate success.